UN says politics lies behind rift between west and Muslims

Politics - not religion - lies at the root of a growing divide between Muslim and western societies, according to a report presented to the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, yesterday.

An international panel of scholars, politicians and religious leaders warned that cultural stereotypes were turning negotiable disputes into "seemingly intractable identity-based conflicts" and that the clash-of-civilisations theory has obscured "the real nature of the predicament the world is facing".

In their recommendations the 20-strong panel, which included Nobel peace prize winner Desmond Tutu and former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami, suggested steps towards defusing the crisis, including an urgent reinvigoration of the Middle East peace process and initiatives aimed at the young.

The Alliance of Civilisations is a UN initiative sponsored by Spain, a predominantly Catholic country, and Turkey, which is 99% Muslim.

The report, which Mr Annan commissioned last year, blamed current tensions on a combination of western policies and trends in Muslim societies.

"Either we will sit and remain spectators as the culture of terror, violence and clashes spreads across the world like an infectious disease, or we can globalise a common understanding of humanity," Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday at the launch of the report in Istanbul.

The Israeli-Palestinian issue has become a key symbol of the rift and is one of the gravest threats to international stability, the report said.

Western military operations in Muslim countries also contribute to a climate of fear and animosity, while perceptions of double standards in relation to international law and human rights are increasing resentment among Muslims around the globe. "The current predicament from which much of the Muslim world suffers cannot be attributed solely to foreign interference," the report continued, saying that "an internal debate between progressive and regressive forces" is generating deep divisions.

On receiving the report Mr Annan said: "We need to get away from stereotypes, generalisations and preconceptions, and take care not to let crimes committed by individuals or small groups dictate our image of an entire people, an entire region, or an entire religion."